Forming and attaching top stops to fastener chains

ABSTRACT

IN TIMED SEQUENCE, A PAIR OF TOP STOP BLANKS ARE CUT FROM A METAL STRIP, THE BLANKS ARE BENT INTO U- OR V-SHAPE, THE BENT BLANKS ARE SUPPORTED ON A PAIR OF PIVOTAL CLAMPING JAWS, AND THE BLANKS ARE ATTACHED TO THE TWO TAPES OF A PARTLY ASSEMBLED FASTENER CHAIN. THE FASTENER CHAIN IS INTERMITTENTLY FED TO THE JAWS WITH THEIR TWO TAPES DISENGAGED AND GUIDED AT AN ACUTE ANGLE, AND THE BLANKS ARE CLAMPED TO THE DISENGAGED TAPES.

June 29, 1971 MAlSENBACHER 3,588,991

FORMING AND ATTACHING TOP STOPS TO FASTENER CHAINS 2 Sheets5heet k FiledSept. 8, 1969 l N VFN'H h 0/: far Mu: I'sen 6Q (:56 P- HY3 y 44% fierwcHam/75 June 1971 v D. MAISENBACHER 3,58,?

FORMING AND ATTACHING TOP STOPS TO FASTENER CHAINS Filed Sept. 8, 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 2 ,4 I 19 I' "I'll ,II II "I a Im I I "I": l u l llINVILNIUR, D m Mel/sen bacficv BY: WM aha/ HGEn/T;

United States Patent Olice 3,588,991 Patented June 29, 1971 US. Cl.29-408 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In timed sequence, a pair oftop stop blanks are cut from a metal strip, the blanks are bent into U-or V-shape, the bent blanks are supported on a pair of pivotal clampingjaws, and the blanks are attached to the two tapes of a partly assembledfastener chain. The fastener chain is intermittently fed to the jawswith their two tapes disengaged and guided at an acute angle, and theblanks are clamped to the disengaged tapes.

The present invention relates to the forming of top stop blanks andattachment thereof to the tapes of a fastener chain in timed sequence.

Heretofore, top stop blanks were formed in one operation, and the blankswere individually attached to the beaded edges of the fastener chaintapes.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a programmedoperation in which a pair of top stop blanks are cut from a continuouslength of a metal strip, are subsequently shaped, positioned on the tapeedges and attached thereto in a timed sequence.

This and other objects and advantages are accomplished in accordancewith the invention by intermittently feeding the metal strip to acutting station in consecutively timed feeding cycles and cutting twolongitud1- nally consecutive blanks of equal length from the strip atthe cutting station between consecutive cycles. The cut blanks arepushed to an adjacent bending station by the metal strip advancing intothe cutting station in a subsequent intermittent feeding cycle, and thecut blanks are simulaneously bent to assume a concave, such as a U- orV-shaped, cross section. The bent blanks are then moved into a pair ofadjacent jaws supporting the bent blanks. A length of a partly assembledfastener chain is intermittently fed through a top stop attachmentstation at the jaws. The fastener chain includes two tapes adapted to beengaged by interlocking elements engageable and disengageable by aslider. The tapes are disengaged at the attachment station, and thefastener chain tapes are guided through the attachment station at anacute angle to each other. The jaws supporting the bent blanks are movedtowards the fastener chain tapes to position the pair of blanks on theedges of the tapes facing the jaws, and the blanks are clamped onto thetapes.

The apparatus of the present invention includes cutting means at thecutting station, blank bending die means at the bending station, and jawsupport means for the bent blanks. The jaw support means includes acenter support and a pair of movable tongs pivotal towards the centersupport, a pair of adjacent jaws being defined between a respective oneof the tongs and the center support. Slide means moves the bent blanksinto the pair of jaws. The fastener chain is fed through a trough-shapedguide which supports the chain tapes at an acute angle and disengagedfrom each other. Reciprocable means pushes the disengaged fastener chaintapes towards the jaws. Drive means is provided for sequentiallyactuating the cutting means, the bending means, the slide means, and thereciprocable and jaw pivoting means simultaneously.

In the illustrated embodiment, the drive means is a rotatable cam shaft,and the center support of the jaw support means includes a cross bar.The movable tongs are two-armed levers pivoted on respective ends of thecross bar, one of the arms of the tongs defining the jaws with thecenter support and the other arm being in camming engagement with thecam shaft for pivoting the tongs.

It is advantageous to impart such a cross section to the top stop blanksduring bending that they will securely engage the fastener chain tapeedges, and also will be engaged securely by the slide means when movedfrom the bending station to the support jaws.

Other features, additional objects, and many of the attendant advantagesof this invention will readily be apr preciated as the same becomesbetter understood by reference to the following detailed description ofa preferred embodiment when considered in connection with the appendeddrawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows the cutting and bending station of a top stop making andattaching machine of the invention in top plan view;

FIG. 2 shows the device of FIG. 1 in front elevation;

FIG. 3A and 3B illustrate the bending implements of the device of FIGS.1 and 2 in two relative positions;

FIG. 4 shows the top stop making and attaching machine in fragmentaryside elevation;

FIG. 5 illustrates the attaching station of the machine in frontelevation;

FIG. 6 shows a portion of the attaching station of FIG. 5 in a differentoperating position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of the fastenerchain guidingtrough of the machine; and

FIG. 8 shows cross sections of metal strips from which top stops can bemade on the machine of FIGS. 1 to 7.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1, 2, 3A and 3B, there is seen the cuttingand bending station of the partly illustrated top stop machine. Thesupporting frame and other stationary structure of the machine has beenomitted from the drawing for the sake of clarity. The drive mechanismalso has been largely omitted since it may be conventional and will beobvious to those skilled in this art.

A fiat metal strip 1 is being fed toward the cutting and bending stationby a non-illustrated feed mechanism which may consist of two rollersbetween which the strip 1 is passed and which are driven intermittentlyby a motion transmitting train connected to the main drive shaft 9 ofthe machine.

The bending mechanism includes a cutting punch 2 which moves twicetoward and away from a stationary die 14 to shear two longitudinallyconsecutive blanks of equal length from the strip 1 after two feedingmovements of the latter. A spring loaded ejector 3 returns the cutblanks to the plane of strip feeding movement when the punch Z returnsto its initial position.

During the next double feeding step, the advancing front end of thestrip 1 pushes the previously cut blanks between two bending tools 4,which are spaced apart at this stage of the machine cycle. The male tool5 is normally held in the position shown in FIG. 2 by a nonillustratedheavy spring, and prevented by non-illustrated abutments from movinginto the path of the blanks cut from the strip 1. The female tool 4 ismoved by a nonillustrated cam in the direction of the arrows in FIGS. 2and 4, and in the opposite direction.

The male tool 5 has two projections, approximately U-shaped in thefront-elevational view of FIG. 2, and the female tool 4 hascorresponding recesses, the two blanks being aligned with respectiveprojections and recesses by the feeding movement of the strip 1. Whenthe female tool 4 is moved by its cam 24 (FIG. 4) toward the male tool5, the initially fiat blanks 8 are bent into an approximate U- orV-shape as is best understood from joint consideration of FIGS. 3A and3B.

When the bending tools 4, 5 return to their starting position shown inFIG. 2, and before the next feeding movement of the strip 1, the blanks8 are discharged by slides 6 from the recesses in the tool 4 at rightangles to the directions of strip feeding and bending tool movement, orbackwardly relative to the machine.

A clamping mechanism 7 is guided on the non-illustrated machine framefor vertical movement behind the common plane of movement of the strip1, the cutting tools 2, 3, 14, and the bending tools 4, 5. The clampingmechanism has a central member having the shape of an inverted T. Twojaws 16 are pivoted on the free ends of the horizontal bar portion ofthe central member 15. The jaws 16' are two-armed levers andapproximately upright in all operative positions. The upper armsapproach each other and the upper end of the upright bar portion of thecentral member 15 so as to form therewith two receptacles for the bentblanks 8, as is best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6. The lower arms of the jaws16 are connected by a helical tension spring 22.

The main drive shaft 9 of the top stop machine carries two radial cams12, 13. The cam 12 engages the lower arms of the jaws 16 under thetension of the spring 22 and forces the lower arms apart once duringeach revolution of the drive shaft 9 which corresponds to one operatingcycle of the machine. The radial cam 13 engages the horizontal barportion of the central member 15 and lifts and lowers the entireclamping mechanism once during each cycle.

Almost all the operating elements of the top stop machine described sofar are mounted below the level of a sheet metal guide trough 11 whichextends from the front toward the rear of the machine and has atransverse slot aligned with the clamping mechanism 7. The trough isapproximately V-shaped in transverse section, but the apex angle of thetrough decreases toward the transverse slot in the trough and increasesaway from the slot in a direc tion from the front toward the rear of themachine.

Pull rolls, conventional in themselves and not illustrated, are mountedin the rear of the machine and are connected with the shaft 9 by atransmission which imparts intermittent movement to a continuous, gappedfastener chain 17 in timed sequence with the motions of the top stopmachine. The fastener chain, when fed toward the slot in the trough 11,is partly assembled to include the interlocking elements 18, bottomstops 19, and sliders 20 arranged so as to leave the elements 18disengaged at the top end of the fastener. The beaded fastener tapes 21travel along the oblique walls of the trough. The fastener stops in aposition in which gaps in the rows of elements are located above theslot in the guide trough 11, and the beaded edges of the tapes 21 facedownward toward the clamping mechanism 7. A pusher 10 mounted above theslot in the trough 11 and having a lower edge portion dimensioned forbending the beaded tape edges into precise alignment with the blanks 8on the clamping mechanism 7 descends and holds the tape edges while theclamping mechanism 7 is lifted toward the tape edges and the jaws 16 aremoved by the cam 12 to clamp the blanks on the tapes 21.

The timing drive which operates the several movable elements of the topstop machine is represented in the drawing only by the shaft 9 and thecams 12, 13, but it will be understood that additional cams, and thenecessary cam followers and other motion transmitting elements whichoperate the cutting and bending tools as well as the slides 6 derivetheir motion from the shaft 9 so as to be precisely synchronized at alltimes.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of forming top stop blanks and attaching the same to thetapes of a fastener chain in timed sequence, comprising the steps of (l)intermittently feeding a metal strip to a cutting station inconsecutively timed feeding cycles,

(2) cutting two longitudinally consecutive blanks of equal length fromthe strip at the cutting station between consecutive ones of the feedingcycles,

(3) pushing the cut blanks to an adjacent bending station by the metalstrip advancing into the cutting station in a subsequent intermittentfeeding cycle,

(4) simultaneously bending the cut blanks at the bending station toassume a concave cross section,

(5) moving the pair of bent blanks into a pair of adjacent jawssupporting the bent blanks,

(6) intermittently feeding a length of a partly assembled fastener chainthrough a top stop attachment station,

(a) the fastener chain including two tapes adapted to be engaged byinterlocking elements engageable and disengageable by a slider, and thetapes being disengaged at the attachment station,

(b) the fastener chain tapes being guided through the attachment stationat an acute angle to each other,

(c) the attachment station being at said jaws,

(7) moving the jaws supporting the bent blanks towards the fastenerchain tapes to position the pair of blanks on the edges of the tapesfacing the jaws, and

(8) clamping the blanks onto the tapes.

2. An apparatus for forming top stop blanks and attaching the same tothe tapes of a fastener chain in timed sequence, comprising (1) cuttingmeans at a cutting station for cutting two longitudinally consecutiveblanks of equal length from a metal strip being moved into the cuttingstation adjacent the cutting means in intermittent feeding cycles,

(2) blank bending die means at a bending station adjacent the cuttingstation for bending the blanks received from the cutting station,

(3) jaw support means for the bent blanks, the jaw support meansincluding (a) a center support and a pair of movable tongs pivotaltowards the center support, a pair of adjacent jaws being definedbetween a respective one of the tongs and the center support,

(4) slide means for moving the bent pair of blanks into the pair ofjaws,

(5)* a trough-shaped guide for feeding a fastener chain to a top stopattachment station opposite said jaw support means,

(b) the guide supporting the fastener chain tapes at an acute angle anddisengaged from each other,

(6) reciprocable means for pushing the disengaged fastener chain tapesat said acute angle towards the jaw support means,

(7) means for pivoting the tongs towards the center support of the jawsupport means, and

(8) drive means sequentially actuating the cutting means, the bendingmeans, the slide means, and the 6 reciprocable means simultaneously withthe pivoting References Cited f 1 h h UNITED STATES PATENTS is g' j gfgfi lg W t e dnve means 2,701,877 2/1955 Morin 29207.5X e 2,989,7516/1961 Schevermann 29207.5 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein thecenter sup- 5 3 415 293 12/1968 Penman 29 207 5X port of the jaw supportmeans includes a cross bar and said movable tongs are two-armed leverspivoted on re- THERQN CONDON, p i Examiner spective ends of the crossbar, one of the arms of the tongs defining the jaws with the centersupport and the 10 DESMOND Asslstant Exammer other arm being in cammingengagement with the cam {13 L X R shaft for pivoting the tongs.29207.5ST

